Protesters March on Climate Summit, Disrupt Meeting During Week of Action

On September 8, more than 30,000 people marched in San Francisco as part of a major international climate mobilization. The “Rise for Climate Jobs, and Justice” march filled the city’s streets just days before the California Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS). Protesters addressed climate change, economic inequality, the housing crisis, increased criminalization, and attacks on immigrant communities.

The GCAS, hosted by Governor Jerry Brown, was designed to celebrate climate achievements and encourage more action. Protesters insisted that Governor Brown continues to protect billion-dollar dirty oil corporations that actively seek to undermine the necessary change. They called on the mayors and other public servants at the summit to work for genuine and urgent climate protection, and to address the disproportionate effects of climate change on underserved communities.

Protesters took to the streets again on September 13th, after the summit had commenced, this time shutting down the intersections of Third and Folsom and Third and Howard, substantially disrupting entrance into the GCAS venue. Police presence was heavy; demonstrators gathered behind barricades and were pushed further back by lines of law enforcement and there were two arrests. The week of actions was in solidarity with indigenous and frontline communities.